Telling Him
by iBayfully
Summary: She feels like death is coming for her - but it doesn't stop her from finally telling him the one thing she wants him to know. Chapter 50 AU, one-shot.


**A/N: Just a different approach on chapter 50...you know which scene. ;) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan. **

**Telling Him**

* * *

A sickening crunch followed the first, the sound of crushing bones piercing Eren's ears. The boy looked up in horror - Mr. Hannes was gone, crudely devoured by a titan - no, **the **titan, the very one who had taken from him his mother.

Rage filled Eren. First his beloved mother, and a close friend after; there was no way in hell he would be next in line.

But Eren couldn't fight it. Not this time.

He was without maneuver gear, and he was weak - Mikasa was just as feeble; she was clutching her ribs tightly and her breathing was hoarse.

_It can't end...not like this._

But the boy was powerless.

Gripping the grass tightly with raging fists, he screamed.

"AGAIN!" He bellowed, pummeling the ground. "I CAN'T DO ANYTHING, AFTER ALL THIS - "

He choked, tears flowing freely. Mikasa stared at him with glossy eyes, mouth agape. She watched him silently as he continued to shout.

"I STILL CAN'T DO ANYTHING - " he screamed, threatening to tear the dirt off the face of the Earth. "N-not after all this time…"  
Eren didn't want it to end. He couldn't let it end. He still had to avenge his mother - he had a basement he needed to travel to, and he had friends to see the world with; titans were simply in the way of his dreams. He had to see them come true.

But he couldn't do a thing.

"Eren…"

A voice snapped him out of his self-deprecating thoughts. A voice so calming, and so pure, it wasn't fit for a gore-filled battleground. It belonged to Mikasa.

The boy swung his head up, and he met Mikasa's grey eyes. They were watery and full of tears, but she was smiling. She held his hand gently in her own, silently stroking his rough, calloused edges. He could only wonder how she was as calm and buoyant as she currently was.

"That isn't true."

She spoke the words softly, gently, but also firmly, like she meant exactly what she was talking about. And she did.

Around them, the battle raged on. Soldiers of the Survey Corps desperately flew through the air, cutting down as many titans as they could, but their numbers were decreasing. For every soldier, there seemed to be twice as many giants. The situation looked dire.

And yet, Mikasa smiled happily at Eren, not a care in the world. _This might be it, _were her thoughts. _I might never be given this chance again._

She had to let him know how she felt. She had to.

Eren was glancing around worriedly, shaking slightly every time a footstep shook the Earth.

_I have to tell him._

"Eren," she said calmly. "Listen." Taking his chin in her hand, she lifted his head so that his eyes met hers again. "There's something I want to tell you."

The towering titan was dangerously close to them, still grinning it's devilish smile as it finished off what was Hannes. Armin was a little further away, yelling for help as he clung tightly to an unconscious Jean. Historia watched in horror as Ymir growled at an opposing titan, who looked ready to rip her head off.

Good men, the best of the best, were being picked off, one by one. More and more soldiers were dying.

But none of those soldiers was Eren. And that was all Mikasa cared about.

"T-thank you for being together with me."

Mikasa didn't dare frown or glower. She had no reason to. Even with death just around the corner, she had Eren to spend it with.

_That's all that matters._

"Thank you...for teaching me how to live."

She laughed softly, looking up at his eyes - his gorgeous, green eyes that were sporting tears of their own. He stared back at her, shocked at what she was saying. But she didn't care. He had to know.

Slowly, her trembling hands made their way up to her neck, where her burgundy scarf rested. "Thank you," she unwrapped it, her smile not faltering as she did so, "for wrapping this scarf around me."

Being this close to Eren had her blushing madly, but she had not a care in the world. He was already so close…

Tears were still running down his cheeks; he wasn't reacting, but he wasn't shoving her away like he always did before. Mikasa felt her eyelids flutter, and she closed her eyes, the last thing she saw being Eren's lips - as rough as a soldier's, with scars and cuts, but also soft at the same time - slightly chapped, they were, but still with a pinkish flare.

_S-so this is what it feels like...to be in love…_

Eren was confused. And scared, and angry, and sad, and irritated, and...at peace. Mikasa was the result of one of them, the one that mattered most. He was calm; calmer than he had expected himself to be. All he could think of was Mikasa and her beautiful face, the one that he had grown to love from the very day he met her.

He felt like an idiot. He couldn't believe that now, of all times, he was finally realizing how much he loved her.

It didn't matter that Mikasa thought it was their final time together. He was going to make sure it wasn't. He hated the way she said everything, how it was going to be the end for them both - hell, he wanted to shut the girl up.

So he did.

Leaning in, he captured her lips in his, and for a moment, their mouths moved together. For a moment, he felt her bottom lip tremble, and it pained him to think she was feeling weak. He kissed her harder, but only for a second more - just to let Mikasa know that he was strong, and that he was going to protect her.

He broke away, staring straight into her dazed eyes. "It's just a stupid scarf," he muttered. "And…" In a moment, he was up on his feet, anger surging through his body. Mikasa watched, still kneeling on the ground. He glanced back at her, eyes consumed with rage. "From now on, I'll wrap it around you as many times as I need to."

The titan's hand loomed over him, and his arm shot out in front of Mikasa immediately. "Don't you dare _fucking _touch her," he snarled.

_I won't let anything happen to you, Mikasa. I swear. _


End file.
